THE RED ARMY and the CHANGING of the POLITICAL SYSTEM in ROMANIA Constantin HLIHOR∗, Ioan SCURTU∗∗ the Withdrawal of Roma
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Annals of the Academy of Romanian Scientists Online edition Series on History and Archeology ISSN 2067-5682 Volume 5, Number 2/2013 77 THE RED ARMY AND THE CHANGING OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM IN ROMANIA ∗ ∗∗ Constantin HLIHOR ∗∗, Ioan SCURTU Abstract . The radical transformation of Romanian society and its transition to a system similar to that in the Soviet Union implied, on the one hand, the elimination of the influence exerted by the traditional (historical) parties, and, on the other hand, the formation of a government that would entirely serve the interests of the Kremlin. The concrete plan for seizing political power by the Communist Party and its allies was drawn up outside the country's borders. The victorious powers at the end of the World War II were concerned with shaping the postwar world. In Romania, the democratic opposition increased its attempts to make Western political- diplomatic circles aware of the evolution of the political situation in Romania. Iuliu Maniu sent messages to the Potsdam Conference (17 July-2 August 1945) in which he asked for the support of the Great Powers in establishing a representative government in Romania, a government that would consist of all democratic political forces and that would prepare the groundwork for free elections. Immediately after Stalin's death, the Soviet Government began to reevaluate its relations with its satellite countries. The policy of detente, proclaimed by N. Khrushchev, influenced the situation in Romania. In March 1955 the work camps were abolished and several political prisoners were liberated. In April 1956 the council of ministers allowed disgraced persons to return to their original homes and they were given back their confiscated houses and lands. After the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Romania, the Communist leaders in Bucharest could express their disagreement with the leaders in Moscow with respect to the debates which took place at the end of the 1950s and at the beginning of the 1960s and which tackled the functioning and organizational principles of the Economic Council for Mutual Assistance. Keywords : Red Army, armistice, convention, Allied Control Commision, Andrei Vyshinsky, Petru Groza, King Michael I, I.V. Stalin, N.S. Khrushchev, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej. The withdrawal of Romania from the Axis on 23 August 1944 had profound consequences for the subsequent evolution of Romanian politics 1. During the first weeks after the overthrow of Marshal Ion Antonescu's government, Romanian society ∗ Prof. univ. dr., Universitatea Cre ştin ă „Dimitrie Cantemir”, Bucure şti. ∗∗ Prof. univ. dr., Academia Oamenilor de Ştiin Ńă din România. 1 For more details, see Gh. Buzatu, Din istoria secret ă a celui de-al doilea r ăzboi mondial, Bucure şti, 1988; Eliza Campus, Din politica extern ă a României 1913-1947, Bucure şti, 1980; Ion Enescu, Politica extern ă a României în perioada 1944-1947, Bucure şti, 1979; România în anii celui de-al doilea r ăzboi mondial, vol. III, Bucure şti, 1980; Paul D. Quinlan, Clash over Romania: British, and American Policies towards Romania 1938-1947, Los Angeles, 1977. 78 Constantin HILHOR, Ioan SCURTU was permeated with an exultant harmony. 2 The Communists in Romania were rigorously complying with Moscow's instruction sent to all the Communist parties in Europe, to cooperate with any political force that had declared itself against Fascism, even if its orientation was anti-Communist. Under these circumstances, collaboration between the parties which made up the National Democratic Block (National Liberal, National Peasant, Social-Democratic, and Communist) was real and efficient. On 31 August 1944 royal decrees 3.053 of 5 September 1940, 3.067 of 6 September 1940, and 3.072 of 7 September 1940, which had established the legal bases for the dictatorial regime, were repealed, and the 1923 Constitution was restored 3. The rights and privileges of all Romanian citizens which had been revoked in February 1938 were also restored. The end of September 1944 and the beginning of the next month brought about an important change in the attitude of the Communist Party toward its coalition partners. Most of Romanian territory was under the control of the Red Army. With this occupation, Stalin's dictum that " Anyone occupying a territory also imposes his own social system; everyone imposes his own social system as far as his army has advanced ," 4 became a painful reality for Romanians, although all of the implications of this were not yet perceived or felt by society at large or by the representatives of the Western powers in Romania. On 7 October 1944 Michael Wright informed the British authorities that: "90% of the [Romanian] peasants are against Communism," arid he did not think that Romania would become Communist in the near future because a "series of discussions with Marshal Malinovsky highlighted some encouraging clues concerning the fact that Romania would not be Sovietized by Russia." 5 After negotiations of Soviet and British interests in the Balkans, on the occasion of the visit of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to Moscow (between 9 and 17 October 1944) 6 the Soviets felt they had gained the upper hand. They were therefore no longer willing to abide by their own assurances made to Romanian politicians in April 7 and June 8 of 1944, with regard to respecting the independence of the Romanian state. It was also unwilling to comply with Molotov's declaration on 2 April 1944 that Moscow would not "intervene to change the social 2 Florin Constantiniu, “Societatea româneasc ă în perioada eliber ării Transilvaniei de nord," conference presented at the National Military Club on 20 October 1994. 3 România liber ă, 5 September 1994. 4 Arh. Ist. Centr., fond P.C.M.-S.S.L, Politica intern ă, dosar 1/1954, f. 364. 5 Great Britain, P.R.O., RO. 371/43988, f. 23. 6 For more details see Nicolae Baciu, Agonia Romaniei 1944-1944, Cluj-Napoca, 1990, pp. 85-97; Titu Georgescu, România între Yalta si Malta, Bucure şti, 1993, pp. 32-33; Ioan Chiper, Florin Constantiniu, and Adrian Pop, Sovietizarea României. Percep Ńii anglo-americane (1944-1947), Bucure şti, pp. 8-9. 7 Arh. M.A.E., dosar S.I., Stockholm, vol.1, pp. 157-159. 8 Ibidem , ff. 214-215. The Red Army and the Changing of the Social and Political System in Romania 79 order," 9 although these statements had been formally reasserted and sustained by the signing of the Armistice Convention on 12-13 September 1944. The political and military means and instruments resorted to by the Kremlin to impose its own political-social system in Romania were starting to work. According to a note addressed to the president of the council of ministers on 28 September 1944 by the Romanian General Staff 10 , political forces without any importance or cohesive power in interwar Romanian society were beginning to display revolutionary tendencies. To counteract these new political parties' ascent to power, and also to avoid a state of anarchy, a specialized body (Department II) authorized by the Romanian General Staff recommended a note that: "His Majesty King Michael I should inform the country that under his rule social justice would follow the example given by King Ferdinand I who, in order to protect the country from the infection of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, decided by royal decree that he would distribute land to the peas- ants." 11 Although the atmosphere in the country indicated increasing political dissension - John Le Rougetel, the British political representative in Bucharest, called it revolutionary in his telegram sent to the authorities in London on 28 September 1944 - the president of the council of ministers, General Constantin S ănătescu, responded to the Romanian General Staff on 6 October 1944 12 that: "It is necessary to wait." 13 The events in Romania were precipitated by the influence of the Soviet Union exerted through the military occupation of the country by the Red Army. The basic foundations of democratic society in Romania quickly disintegrated and their very existence was threatened. The form of government, the structure of the state, and the political regime went through unimaginable changes. The Comintern activists, Soviet political agents including Ana Pauker and Vasile Luca (Laszlo), accompanied by political experts and a whole network of agents of the N.K.VD., made up of many Jews, Russians, Bulgarians, and Hungarians, returned from the Soviet Union. 14 The institutions and the structures of power, as well as the administrative structures of the Romanian state, fell completely under the control of the occupying troops through the intervention of the Soviet Allied Control Commission, a body created after the Armistice Convention had been signed by the Romanian Government and the representatives of the coalition of the United Nations in Moscow 9 Al. Vianu and his collaborators, ed., Rela Ńii interna Ńionale în acte şi documente, vol. II, 1939-1945, Bucure şti, 1976, pp. 165-166. 10 Arh. Ist. Centr., fond P.C.M., Cabinet S ănătescu-Rădescu, dosar 1411/1944, f. 136. 11 Ibidem . 12 Great Britain, P.R.O., F.O., 371/44004, f.107. 13 Arh. Inst. Centr., fond P.C.M., Cabinet S ănătescu-Rădescu, dosar 1411/1944-1945 f. 138. 14 Titu Georgescu, op. cit., p. 31. 80 Constantin HILHOR, Ioan SCURTU on 12-13 September 1944. 15 The official mission of the commission was to oversee the observance of all the provisions of the Armistice Convention by Romania, but in fact it was an instrument for the political and military control of the Romanian territory in keeping with the agreements reached between the main partners of the coalition of the United Nations. During the war London recognized that Romania was "integrated within the sphere of Russian military occupation" which had "the main role in the application of the Armistice." 16 The Pentagon informed the representative of the United States to this body, Brigadier General C.VR.